Question

Hello Everyone, I just gave birth to my daughter last month and I’m currently on FMLA right now I won’t be going back to work until April. Since my daughter will be making one month on Friday this whole being a new mom has made me realize that I honestly don’t want anyone else to watch her besides me. That being said my husband will be the only one bringing in the income, I just need advice if we were to head on this route where should I even start budgeting? How should we start? SOS (Lol)

Answer 1

Following !  

Answer 2

Congrats on your baby girl! I think you should figure out ALL of your expenses, bills, debts and variable expenses like food. Make sure you guys can afford everything you need on his salary alone. If it's tight, see what expenses you can cut like cable, subscription services, etc. if it's still tight, talk to your husband about him getting a second job or you only working part time when he can be at home with the baby. Good luck!  

Answer 3

Congrats! (We just had our first girl in Dec) Start tracking your expenses, sign up for the email course, and figure out where you can save money.  

Answer 4

Yay for babies! This happened after my daughter was born as all. I wrote out every possible expense in the worse case scenario to see if it was even doable. I’m a nurse so I still have mandatory hours to keep my license but that’s all I work right now. It ends up being about 3 days a month. I feel comfortable with this and will increase as time goes on. Whatever you decide it’s a hard decision. We definitely have to be diligent on our budget but I personally feel it’s worth it. Luckily my mom helps watch the kids while I work but we try to just schedule when my husband is home. Maybe you could find something similar if you just need a little income. Good luck. You’re doing great. Being a mom is so hard

Answer 5

I switched to cloth diapering, planing my meals out a week ahead and when we shop for groceries, we ONLY GET what we need for the meals ahead. And snacks for my toddler. We took how much we spent on groceries for 2 weeks and cut it in half and thats how much we have a week(only time we go over that budget is when we need diapers for daycare ). We (now) pay all our bills as soon as they come in so no waiting for money to be taken out. We haven’t eaten out since we started this (January). In less than a year, I’m set to get out of the military and be a SAHM to our 2 girls so we-by this I mean me-have been planning and budgeting and saving as much as we can. He hates some of the ideas I’ve come up with and thinks I’m “cheap” but idc. Were saving money and almost debt free. As long as you watch and track every penny and see where its all going, it’ll be easy to budget (hopefully).  

Answer 6

It’s tough going down to one income but I wouldn’t change it for anything! I would start by showing what you have and let us help you see where you need to cut from.  

Answer 7

I’m a single mom who only allows close and trusted individuals to watch my child (15mo old) I am a waitress in the evenings. Picking up a shift or two may be beneficial for you in the future if you guys are strapped for cash! I’d honestly just start tracking spending hardcore right now. Calculate all of your current bills and see where you can cut from a bit to ensure extra cushion. I would also like to give a friendly reminder that in the future you will come to realize how little you actually needed for your child, so just try to remember that as you experience growth from your LO  necessities are specific to your situation, so consider that before buying stuff that looks nice or convenient hahaha (I was bad about this! )

Answer 8

Start looking to see if you can make some money while being home specially this 1st year and first months before your baby starts walking. Use that money to stack up on diaper, formula if you use. Start couponing